Enfield Football Tales website launch!

Date: October 24, 2013

Celebration and launch of Enfield Football Tales

Thursday November 28th saw the celebration of nearly 18months of hard work by over 200 people who have been involved in capturing and sharing stories and memories of football in Enfield spanning nearly 130 years. The event at Queen Elizabeth II Stadium, Donkey Lane, Enfield was attended by around 80 people including representatives of the local schools, older interviewees and partner agencies: Enfield Town Supporters Trust, Enfield Town F.C., Enfield Libraries and Museum Service, Enfield Local Studies and Archive, Enfield Voluntary Action, Enfield Over 50s Forum, Enfield Race Equality Council, Enfield Age UK, and the North London Hospice.

Managed by national charity The Beth Johnson Foundation (BJF) and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund the project has created a range of resources that can now be used to support learning in schools and community groups and for reminiscence. Martin Cantrell, a Director of Enfield Town FC and Judy Crabb from BJF thanked all who had made the intergenerational project possible. With the support of project manager Suzannah Yianni and local practitioner Nigel Kellaway these included:

The young people from Kingsmead school who undertook interviews with former players and others associated with the club and other football teams in the Borough; came up with the branding for the project, performed a drama based on the story of Enfield Football Club and provided the catering for the event. Staff at the school, in particular Asmeed Sohoye, Nick Charalambous, Deputy Head Jan Evans and Yasmin Al Khan school lead on the project were especially thanked for their commitment and support. ‘This was a wonderful opportunity for Kingsmead students to support and work with a rage of people in their community. The students gained a better understanding of the history of Enfield and developed and created their drama, art , catering journalistic and scriptwriting skills. It was heart-warming to see the intergenerational dynamic to this project and to observe the young and young at heart bond through sport.’ Said Yasmin.

Young people from George Spicers Junior school who interviewed supporters were thanked as were young people from Life Skills who took photos and produced a heritage trail tracing significant sites associated with the club around the Borough

Further thanks went to the other football teams in the Borough in particular Omonia whose stories demonstrated the significant part football plays in the lives of all local communities.

Older people included over 50 former players who shared their stories including the legendary ladies team and people with dementia who attend the Parker Centre who were stimulated by talking about football to produce their own life history memory cards.

Volunteers, included Jim and Lynne Cantle, Glynice Smith, Paul Burton and Graham Frost (club historian), who said of the project ” Sport, and football in particular plays a large part in a great many people’s lives. Enfield was fortunate enough to be home to one of the leading amateur football clubs in the country. Sadly that club is no longer in existence, but through this project we can help to keep memories of the club and the borough’s sporting heritage alive.”

Martin Cantrell summed up the project by saying ‘” Enfield Town FC was established, as a co-operative, by football supporters as the only way to retain senior football for the benefit of the community in Enfield. The consequent dream of our club to start to capture the personal memories of people in the community involved with football in Enfield has only been achieved thanks to the financial support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and the expertise of the Beth Johnson Foundation. The club intends to sustain the activities associated with the project into the future.”